Sooner Surrender
by Sooner Surrender
Summary: Based on a true story, fictionalized to fit an appropriate manner.
1. Chapter 1

Sooner Surrender  
1

I check my phone. It says it's 3:31 PM. My phone is never wrong, and he is never late. In fact, he is always early. I am worried out of my mind for the simple fact that he is exactly a minute late. "I don't think he's coming," I complain to my best friend Taylor.

"Don't worry about it. He's probably just a little late," Taylor says.

I shake my head. "But Taylor, Ryan is _never _late! Ever," I remind her.

"I know. But he said he would he be here. Would he lie to you?" Taylor asked me.

I shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. He hasn't before. But sooner or later, he will," I tell her.

"Maybe, maybe not. You guys only started talking to each other a few weeks ago. You don't see each other every day. How is he supposed to know your in like with him?" Taylor reminded me. I knew she was trying to be funny. Taylor is the funniest girl I know. But there's one thing she won't joke about. She and I both know it. I'm not in like with Ryan.

I am deeply, irrevocably, and dangerously in love with him.


	2. Chapter 2

Sooner Surrender  
2

I check my watch. It is 3:35 PM. He is walking through the door. My heart and jumps and falls in my throat. He walks up to me.

"Hey." His warm vpice is strong and gentle. I try to find the words to speak. Oh God, I can't breathe! What do I say? What do I do?

"Um, hello?" he says, waving his hand in front of my face.

"Oh, uh, hey," I manage to choke out. I sound like I'm crying. In truth, I'm choking on air and the words I can't tell him. At least, I can't tell him now.

"Mitchie, you okay?" he asks. He sounds confused, but the concern in his voice is there as well. I live to hear his voice. I could just listen to him talk all day, just so I could hear his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sinuses acting up." I wipe my eyes and walk out the door. I dodge into the bathroom. In no time, Taylor is at my heels. She knows that my sinuses are just fine. She knows the reason i have to run into the bathroom.

"Mitch, you're acting totally spaced around him. He's gonna figure it out if you keep acting this way around him," she pointed out. Lines of black streamed down my face. Taylor licked her thumb and started wiping them away. I felt like a baby who had gotten into her mother's make-up. I was the baby, Taylor was the mother, and Ryan was the make-up she was trying to get me away from. If i got into it, a bigger mess could only be expected. I let her wipe away the remanats of my mascara. then, I washed the rest of the gunk of my face. I walked beside Taylor and we went to Quiz Bowl practice together.

Ryan stared in confusion at my face. "Mitchie, what happened? You look different," he observed.

"I, uh, washed my face. All that gunk on it was irritating me," I lied.

Just then, Mr. Martin called for us. "If you'll sit down, we'll have Michelle, Taylor, Dustin, and.........." He paused, looking around for someone else to join us. "And Ryan. You four will start for us. Now take your seats. Taylor, you'll be captain for today. She sat in the captain's seat, the second from the right. I sat at the very end of the table. Dustin sat on one side of Taylor; Ryan sat by me. I glanced over to the side. There were two huge boys and two very petite girls. They looked like a couple of football players and some ballerinas. We waited in extreme silence as Mr. Martin explained the rules to us. Then the toss-up round began. There were 20 questions, and anyone was free to answer them. At the end of the first round of toss-up, we were in the lead with 180 to 20. Then Mr. Martin switched us out. I practically fell asleep during the rest of the match. I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder. It was Jeff, I just knew it. Then another hand jabbed, prodded, poked, until my eyes flew open and I caught the jabber red-handed. It was Jeff alright.

"Jeff, so help me I will-" I started ranting and raving.

"But it wasn't me!" he protested. "It was Ryan, I swear to all that is good and Holy in this world," he promised. I glared at Ryan. he looked embarassed.

"Well the match was over. They wanted to put you back in for the lightning round, but i told them to let you sleep. Now they have to lock the doors, but they can't do that til we're gone," he pointed out.

"Oh." Now it was my turn to look embarassed. "Sorry." Blushing, I snatched my bag off the desk and darted out of the door. Then I felt a vibration in my back pocket. My hand reached for my phone. It was Jeff.

It said, "Geez, why'd ya have to get on to Ryan like that?" I sighed in frustration.

"Tell him I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at him. I thought it was you," I reminded him.

Seconds later, my phone buzzed again. The small print read, "Yeah, I know. That's what I tried to tell him." I decided not to text back. I had a long walk home.


End file.
